This invention relates to exercise weights, and more particularly to materials used in making soft visco-elastic exercise weights.
For various reasons, it is often desirable to have weight added to the body during physical activity. Such activity may be part of a program of physical rehabilitation for injured persons, or a health maintaining daily exercise program such as jogging or aerobic dancing. During the exercise movement, the added weight increases the work accomplished, increasing caloric consumption and causing more rapid or additional muscle development, and other coordinated health benefits.
In the past, it has been known to attach a variety of weights to the body by various means. The weights have generally been covered with a foam material in an effort to make them more comfortably held against the body. For example, in one well known device, a metal bar about five inches long is covered with foam and is designed to be held by clinching the hand around the bar during exercise. A hand strap, also covered by foam, is attached which fits around the back of the hand to help the exerciser hang onto the device while exercising. Other devices have been designed to fit around the waist, wrist or ankles, generally comprising a flexible pouch, often segmented, containing weights such as lead shot, lead bars, sand or the like. Some of the weights are covered with foam and have an outer vinyl covering. The weights are secured to the body by being wrapped around a narrow portion of the body and fastened in place using buckles or Velcro-type fasteners.
Previously known devices have several disadvantages. Primarily, the devices are hard and cause bruises if they strike the flesh of either the wearer or other persons exercising nearby. Devices attached to a narrow portion of the body rub and chafe the skin where they are attached. The vinyl covering allows the weight to slip as the skin surface gets sweaty. The method of fastening the weights around the body is sometimes difficult, especially for arthritic persons. The fastening device may need to be adjusted if the device is initially too tight or too loose, or gets loose during use.
Another device which has been commercially sold is a hand exerciser consisting of a visco-elastic material in the form of a cylinder, weighted by lead shot placed in a concentric cylindrical cavity inside of the visco-elastic material cylinder. The lead shot serves to weight the hand exerciser like other exercise weights. The visco-elastic material is covered by absorbent cloth, with an elastic strap attached at both ends to help hold the cylinder in the palm of the hand. A disadvantage of this type of device is that the lead shot tends to cut into the visco-elastic material during use, eventually destroying the visco-elastic matrix. In addition, the hollow cylinder design has a fundamental weakness in that the visco-elastic material cross sectional area is reduced by the hollow shot filled area, making the exerciser less durable than a product without such a cavity.